Revolving Upper Wing Makes Airplane an Autogiro (Oct, 1937)

Revolving Upper Wing Makes Airplane an Autogiro

CALLED a vertaplane, a new airplane which successfully completed its first public flight recently combines many of the features of autogiros and conventional aircraft. The upper wing of the novel ship remains stationary in normal flight, but whirls like an autogiro blade to permit take-offs and landings at slow speeds and in confined areas.

“In the Herrick design, a symmetrical airfoil-shaped rotor was mounted on a horizontal hinge about which it could rotate within certain limits. When flying as a biplane, the upper wing could be prevented from rotating by braces connected to its pylon. When rotating, the wing then assumed the character of an autorotative system.”